Chapter 9: The Paths of the Crossroad
Sora opened his eyes, and he realized he was outside in the middle of a grass field. It was night, a galore of stars hanging into the sky. He looked down to see he was standing on a dirt path in the field. Where he stood in the path went in four directions: forward, backwards, left, and right. He saw Riku to his left, Kairi to his right, the King in front of him, each of them about five feet away. Goofy, Donald, and Axel were all standing in the grass and Samen was standing next to Sora. "Where are we?" Sora asked.
"All of you have been here before, in one way or another," Samen said.
"I don't remember this place?" Donald said.
"I just said you've been here, not that you would remember," Samen replied to the duck.
"I thought this place didn't exist anymore," Axel said.
"Most of it doesn't, where we stand is what is left because it cannot be destroyed that easily."
"I know what you mean about some of us not remembering, but Kairi's never been her?" Riku said.
"True, but Namine, her nobody, was."
"What?" Kairi said.
"Ok, I'm really lost here," Sora said. "This place seems…familiar, but I sure don't remember it."
"It is irrelevant to whether you remember it or not, what is relevant is what I am about to explain to you.
"This place where you stand is the Crossroad," Samen began to explain, "a place like no other in existence. It was created more than a thousand years ago by the keyblade forgers. They each forged a keyblade for each self to once fight an enormous power far beyond what any of you have ever fought combined. Yet in order to do so, they had to make creatures like the Heartless and Nobodies."
"So you mean the first keyblade weilders created the Heartless?" Goofy said.
"Not created, but made them possible. Back then, how heartless were created, as well as nobodies, it was the same. The difference was all the Heartless and Nobodies were one single being known as the Raeth. It destroyed worlds of every kind, nothing could stop it. In the end, few existed. So, five brave people forged the first keyblades. Each keyblade wielder had a special attribute to them. Light, Darkness, Twighlight, Dawn, and the Leader. They used the combined might of their keyblades to take down the Raeth, but yet the thing could never be killed. It kept growing from more and more hearts giving up to the darkness. So, the Keyblade forgers created the Crossroad with their power, and they trapped the beast within it, preventing it from ever coming out again. The result are the heartless and nobodies. They are small figments of the Raeth that can escape the prison. So all along you have been fighting different forms of the Raeth, each one unique and with its own powers. Some were very weak, some were very strong. All of you faced great perils among your different journeys. The keyblade forgers afterwards lost their own paths, each one going a different way. Some became enemies of each other and fought. The Leader, the first chosen one of the keyblade, wished to stop the madness and made it possible that only one person could be the chosen wielder of the keyblade. But he knew something might happen in the future, something might go wrong. So, he forged several more keyblades, the reason your own and several others exist. Among the other keyblades he created a document to a future chosen master of the keyblade. Instruction on how to reverse on what they had created should something grave happen."
"Wait, why would you want to reverse that? I mean, don't we want to keep the Raeth trapped?" said the King.
"Yeah, I'm all for that," Sora said.
"Well, I should explain some more. You see, the keyblade forgers couldn't trap the Raeth on their own. They needed a kind of power that was far beyond the Raeth's strength. And so, they used power given to them by Kingdom Hearts. Because Kingdom Hearts has and will always exist, so will the Crossroad, for they are connected. But as the Leader guessed, something unexplainable happened. Something that appeared after his death. The Soulz."
"The what?" Kairi asked.
"You already know how the heartless are created. It happens when someone loses their heart and they become one of the darkness. A nobody is the body left behind, an empty shell. The nobodies, on most occasions, fade back into darkness. However, a small amount of nobodies or heartless still had one thing with them that most didn't: their soul. These heartless or nobodies still knew of things that happened in their past life, such as the members of Organization XIII. The souls of these beings would fade into darkness as well over time. But some souls were or became too strong for the darkness. They became their own kind of being: the Soulz. Axel and I are two examples of them."
Axel nodded in agreement. "He's right. Apparently my original self had quite an impressive soul to last this far. But what about you Samen; I never learned about your past. Does you past include anything of help for us?"
Samen was silent, but shook his head. "So you mean we have to fight Organization XIII again?" said Riku.
"Nope!" said the King.
Sora turned to the king mouse. "How'd you know?'
"It's the reason I sent for you three. There's some group out there causing trouble, five or six powerful Soulkz. They're known as the Seekers. But, it can't be the organization because they're only six of them at the most!"
"That makes sense," Donald said.
"Unfortunately you're wrong," Axel said.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"Some of these 'Seekers' were once members of the Organization. I know this because they tried to get me to join them."
"Which ones?" Riku asked.
"I only know one, he just said that other members survived. The other's souls had completely faded away. They have a leader of some sort, but who I don't know."
"But you said there were six Seekers, yet only some were part of the organization," Kairi said.
"The others are other Soulz, but their identities is such a mystery to us as it is to you," said Samen. "However, is seems from the investigations Axel and I performed, it seems they wish to free the Raeth and cause chaos. Their motive is also a mystery, so they must be stopped."
"And the way to stop them is with the Crossroad," Sora concluded.
"Absolutely. I have also searched for the directions, but it seems they are in pieces scattered across the world."
"So we have to go around and find those directions then!" Goofy said.
"Well, do we have any leads?" Sora asked.
Samen then took something from his robe. It was an ancient looking scroll, bits and pieces of it torn in several places. "I give what I have found of the Royal Scroll."
"Wait a minute, that's the thing Sephiroth was looking for!" Sora said.
"So he's involved as well?" Riku said.
"Apparently so, but there is more to find than the pieces to the Royal Scroll that must be found," said Samen.
"What?" Kairi asked.
"Although there are holes, this is a theory I have reached. Just as to affect the Crossroad 1,000 years ago, we need five keyblade weilders that walk separate paths."
Samen then pointed at Sora. "The one who is the Leader: the Keyblade's chosen one. Sora: the key that connects everything."
He turned to King Mickey. "The one that walks the path of light. You have used the keyblade when always it was needed."
He turned to Riku. "The one who walks the path of Dawn. A young man who once was an agent of the darkness, but uses it now for the purpose of light. You have been the only one to walk this path since the formation of the Crossroad."
He turned to Kairi. "The one walks the path of Twighlight. Your history has made you a keyblade bearer in this path. One who had a nobody but no heartless, a Princess of Heart, and at one time your heart and soul traveled with another. You are brave, keep your courage."
He than turned to the empty path, but didn't speak. "We have to find some how wields a keyblade but also walks in the darkness?" Sora asked.
"So it seems so. Like I have said, this is all a theory. There may be another way, but this cannot be for certain until we find all the pieces of the Royal Scroll."
"Well, it looks like we're on another quest!" Goofy said.
"Except we're all together this time," Kairi said.
"Axel," Samen said turning to the Flurry of Dancing Flames, "I wish for you to go with them. They will need all the help they can get."
"Funny, I was going to go with them whether you liked it or not," Axel said.
"You were?" Riku asked crossing his arms.
"I've been looking for someone. Perhaps I'll find him on the way coming with you."
Sora nodded his head and looked at Samen. "Why do you want to do this? Tell us all about this? I mean, someone could find out about this and not say anything."
Samen looked at them all. "All I want is that everything is right and that mistakes can be forgiven."
A bright light flashed, and Sora realized they were all back in Merlin's house, except for Samen. "Why does he always leave us?" Kairi asked.
"I've been asking myself that same question for a while now," Axel said.
"Say, where is everybody?" Sora asked.
Just than the door to the house slammed open and Cloud stepped through. "Cloud!" Sora said. "What happened with you and-"
"We'll worry about that later, we've got a problem."
"What do you mean?" Donald said.
"Something not heartless or nobody."
Axel summoned his chakrams. "Soulz. Somehow they know we're here. Or at least I'm here."
Sora summoned the Kingdom Key. "Well, let's show them what we're made of!"
Yes, now you have an idea of what is to come in the story, but there are still plenty of secrets to be revealed. As for the Organization members, the first member to be revealed will be in the next chapter as well.
Dezblade